Linkin Park’s ‘The Emptiness Machine’ Lands Historic No. 1 on Hot Hard Rock Songs
Linkin Park’s “The Emptiness Machine” shoots to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart dated Sept. 21, ahead of a slew of favorites from the band’s decades-long catalog that spiked after the release of its comeback single and the announcement and launch of its new mini tour.
In the week ending Sept. 12, the first full week of tracking for “The Emptiness Machine” (it was released at 6 p.m. ET on Sept. 5), the song earned 13.4 million official U.S. streams, 9.2 million radio audience impressions and sold 8,000 downloads, according to Luminate.
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The count of 13.4 million streams is the second-biggest for any hard rock song since Luminate began tracking U.S. streaming activity and the largest for any newly released hard rock tune. The only frame in which any song went bigger: Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which accumulated 13.9 million streams toward the Billboard charts dated Nov. 24, 2018, amid the release of the Queen biopic of the same name that fall.
In fact, only 10 hard rock songs have reached Billboard’s all-genre Streaming Songs chart since its 2013 inception, with “The Emptiness Machine” becoming the 10th via its No. 19 bow. Four of those are from Linkin Park; in addition to “The Emptiness Machine,” the band appeared with two songs – “Numb” at No. 29 and “In the End” at No. 32 – on the Aug. 12, 2017, ranking following the death of co-frontman Chester Bennington. “Lost” followed with a No. 32 debut in 2023.
Of that 10-song group, only “Lost” and “The Emptiness Machine” were new releases, as the rest either spiked due to news events or viral videos.
“The Emptiness Machine” tops Hot Hard Rock Songs after debuting at No. 7 a week earlier with 1.1 million audience impressions, 690,000 official U.S. streams and 1,000 sold Sept. 5.
The track is the third Linkin Park song to reign on Hot Hard Rock Songs, which began in 2020. “In the End” led for two weeks in 2021, helped by iTunes sale-pricing, and “Lost” ruled for 16 frames, released as part of the 20th anniversary reissue of the Linkin Park album Meteora.
“In the End” is one of four songs from Linkin Park’s catalog to reach Hot Hard Rock Songs and the parent Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart dated Sept. 21 (where older songs are eligible to appear if ranking in the latter list’s top half and with a meaningful reason for their return).
“Numb” leads the group, at Nos. 2 and 12 on Hot Hard Rock Songs and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, respectively. In the week ending Sept. 12, the song accumulated 6.4 million official U.S. streams and sold 1,000 downloads.
“In the End” is next (Nos. 3 and 15) with 5.9 million streams and 1,000 sold, followed by “One Step Closer” (Nos. 4 and 21, respectively) with 4.2 million streams and “Faint” (Nos. 5 and 25) with 3.6 million streams.
All five songs, plus “What I’ve Done,” make the Hard Rock Streaming Songs chart, with the No. 1 debut of “The Emptiness Machine” marking Linkin Park’s second ruler, following “Lost.”
“In the End” (2001), “Faint” (2003), “Numb” (2003) and “What I’ve Done” (2007) each hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart upon their original runs, while “One Step Closer” peaked at No. 5 in 2001.
The gains extend to Billboard’s albums charts; Linkin Park boasts three appearances on Top Hard Rock Albums, paced by Meteora at No. 1 (17,000 equivalent album units earned) and followed by [Hybrid Theory] (No. 2, 16,000 units) and Papercuts (No. 6, 11,000 units). Those three albums also appear on the all-format Billboard 200, Meteora leading the haul at No. 47.
All in all, Linkin Park’s catalog drew 72.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams in the week ending Sept. 12 – up 91% from 38.2 million in the week ending Sept. 5.
In addition to its reign on Hot Hard Rock Songs and its component Hard Rock Streaming Songs list, “The Emptiness Machine” tops Hard Rock Digital Song Sales and hits No. 1 on Rock & Alternative Airplay, as previously reported.
“The Emptiness Machine” is the lead single from From Zero, Linkin Park’s upcoming eighth studio album and first with new members Emily Armstrong on vocals and Colin Brittain on drums, following the death of Bennington and departure of longtime drummer Rob Bourdon. It’s scheduled for release Nov. 15.
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